Illogical Objection

ROMANS 2:25 - 3:8 (July 15)

I have been watching various clips of the Heard vs. Depp trial. There are many of them on social media, and whoever put them there worked really hard to make sure they were comical or proved a point. And while I think the whole thing was ridiculous, it is entertaining to watch the outtakes.

Most of them are designed to make you laugh. A few are put together in a way that seems to indicate the incompetence of Heard's team of lawyers.

In one such outtake, one of her lawyers was so fired up, he wouldn't let Depp finish a sentence on the witness stand. Every time Johnny opened his mouth, this lawyer shouted, "Objection!"

Over and over again, "Objection!" The poor witness couldn't get a word in, so he finally just had to laugh. These "objections" had no merit, no reasoning behind them. This was just one lawyer looking for a way to win an argument.

This reminds me of what Paul is describing in today's portion of Romans. There are so many Jews who had to object and argue over what the subject Paul writes about today.

Paul shares his thoughts about Jewish circumcision. This was a Jewish rite initiated by God as a sign of his covenant with Abraham. It indicated a people who would be separated from the rest of the world and drawn to God.

Paul is pointing out that this rite of circumcision is only valuable to the Jews when combined with a life of obedience. The external ceremony must be accompanied by an inward holiness, otherwise that ceremony means NOTHING! In fact, an uncircumcised Gentile who is keeping God's law is better than a circumcised Jew who does not.

And despite who is faithful or unfaithful, Jew or Gentile, God is always faithful and true to his word.

Now, this is where the OBJECTIONS come in. Because the Jews wanted to rationalize their behavior and somehow make it acceptable.

OBJECTOR: If all this is true, then what is the advantage of being a Jew?

PAUL: The Jews had some advantages over the rest of the people. After all, they had been entrusted with God's laws ... his very words. This was the race in which Jesus would come to the world. These were the people who received covenants with God himself.

Did this make them better than everyone else? Paul is stating very clearly ... No, it did not! It only made them more responsible to live life within the boundaries God required.

OBJECTOR: If not all Jews believe, will God go back on his promise? He did choose Israel as his people and made covenants with them. Can the unbelief of some cause God to break his word?

PAUL: NO WAY, JOSE! Whenever there is a question of who is right... man or God ... always go with this: God is right and man is a liar.

OBJECTOR: Then why does God condemn us? If our unrighteousness causes the righteousness of God to shine, how can he be upset with us?

PAUL: This argument isn't even worthy of my time. How could God be fit to judge the world if he had any possibility of being unrighteous? And we all know he WILL judge the world.

OBJECTOR: But if my sin brings glory to him, how can he find fault with my sin? Doesn't it make sense that if I do evil, good will come from God?

PAUL: The condemnation of people who talk like this is well-deserved.

This is an argument that is constantly going against the grace of God. People say, "If you could be saved just by faith in Christ, then you could go out and live in sin. Since God's grace covers man's sin, then the more you sin, the more his grace abounds."

Now this is JUSTIFICATION at its finest! Finding reasons for why sin is acceptable. Making it seem like sinning is good for God, bringing him glory and making his shine even more.

I find that most people who live their life using JUSTIFICATION for their actions, are living a life filled with sin. Whenever we have to look for reasons why our behavior is "okay", we can safely assume it probably isn't appropriate behavior.

A good motto to live by is if you have to justify it, just don't do it!

Illogical actions lead to illogical objections.